Live Review: The Necks

How can one even write about The Necks? The Sydney piano-bass-drum trio has been making challenging and innovative experimental jazz music for some 25 years now, and the group continues to defy typical definitions. Ostensibly touring on the back of their brilliant 17th album Open, the band's intelligent and thoughtful performances have always suited the Sydney Opera House, and this was no exception. Playing, as they do, two extended and improvised pieces, The Necks showcased all the magic that makes the trio what they are.

The first piece began with flourishing piano work and an almost breathing-style of in-and-out playing from the bass and drums. Small changes were the name of the game here; when drummer Tony Buck moved from snare rolls to cymbals, the effect was almost cathartic in its power. The piece's crescendo was a cyclical spiral of noise that ended where the song began. The post-intermission piece began with almost traditional jazz feel, with Chris Abrahams recalling Thelonious Monk on the piano. Effortlessly, this was gradually and naturally built into a soaring and booming cascade of noise from the rhythm section, bringing the band's no-wave and post-rock aesthetics to the fore.

Strangely, neither piece recalled much of Open but then this is The Necks. The band has never been one to dwell on the past, as wonderful as its own past is. Both pieces, especially the second, were forward-moving and forward-looking soundtracks to a future we may never know. The trio have created their own plane of musical existence, and it's no surprise they're masters of it. The group's discography is largely brilliant, but the group are first and foremost a live act, and one they anyone with even a passing interest in non-traditional music needs to see.